Texarkana, Texas
|blank1_name = GNIS feature ID |blank1_info = 1369752 |website = www.txkusa.org |footnotes = }} Texarkana is a city in Bowie County, Texas, United States, located in the Ark-La-Tex region. Together with neighboring Texarkana, Arkansas, it forms the community of Texarkana. The population of the Texas city was 34,782 at the 2000 census, now 37,103 at the 2010 census. The total population of Texarkana is 67,784; the total area is 70.35 sq mi. The city, with its Arkansas counterpart, forms the core of the Texarkana, Texas–Texarkana, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area, encompassing all of Bowie County, Texas and Miller County, Arkansas. History Railroads were quick to see the possibilities of this vast area, and in the late 1850s the builders of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad were pushing their line steadily across Arkansas. By 1874, they had crossed the Red River and had reached the Texas state line. Between February 16 and March 19, 1874, trains ran between the Texas border and Red River, whence passengers and freight were ferried to Fulton to continue by rail. The Red River Bridge opened on March 20, 1874, and since then trains have run directly from Texarkana to St. Louis. There was keen rivalry between the 1870s railroad builders. The Texas and Pacific reached across Texas to the Arkansas state line. The border was the logical place for the different railways to connect. On December 8, 1873, the Texas and Pacific Railroad sold the first town lots for the future city. First to buy was J.W. Davis, who purchased the land where today's Hotel McCartney now stands, opposite Union Station. It is not known who gave Texarkana its name. A popular story credits Colonel Gus Knobel, who surveyed the Iron Mountain Railroad right-of-way from Little Rock to this section to the state line. He allegedly painted "TEX-ARK-ANA" on a plank and nailed it to a tree, saying, "This is the name of a town which is to be built here." Miller County is probably the only county in the United States which was abolished, only to be reestablished later. Miller County was formed in 1820 to honor James Miller who was Arkansas' first governor. Miller County was formed with a large degree of uncertainty as to the location of the line dividing the county and the Mexican boundary. Consequently, settlers felt that Arkansas levied and collected taxes on land which eventually might be held by Mexico. Moreover, many who resented the oppression of Texans by the Mexicans were openly declaring allegiance to the Texans. This led to general unrest, and after the Texas Republic was created, it grew worse. So, in 1838, Governor James Conway proposed that the "easiest and most effective remedy is the abolition of Miller County to an area which is more patriotic." From that year until 1874, it was a part of Lafayette County. Its re-establishment sprung only from the sale of town lots in Texarkana in 1873. Efforts of the young town to be incorporated were not realized until October 17, 1880, nearly seven years after Texarkana, Texas (June 12, 1874) was formed. December 8, 1873, is generally recognized by both cities as the date of organization. (information from (http://www.texarkana.org/Texarkana_USA/History_of_Texarkana.aspx)) Geography Texarkana, Texas, is located at the junction of Interstate 30 and US highways 59, 67, 71, and 82 in extreme northeast Texas on the Texas-Arkansas border, at (33.437170, -94.067394). It is in the Central time zone. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.39%) is water. Climate * The warmest month is July. * The highest recorded temperature was 117°F (47°C) in 1936. * On average, the coolest month is January. * The lowest recorded temperature was -6°F (-21°C) in 1989. * The most precipitation on average occurs in November. |date=July 2013}} Demographics As of the census of 2000, there were 34,782 people, 13,569 households, and 8,941 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,357.3 people per square mile (524.0/km²). There were 15,105 housing units at an average density of 589.4 per square mile (227.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 59.18% White, 37.05% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.73% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.43% from other races and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.91% of the population. There were 13,569 households out of which 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 19.3% have a female householder with no husband present and 34.1% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01. In the city the population was spread out with 26.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 27.6% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,727, and the median income for a family was $38,505. Males had a median income of $34,155 versus $21,143 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,815. About 19.4% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.8% of those under age 18 and 13.2% of those age 65 or over. Economy According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, City of Texarkana 2009 CAFR. Retrieved 2010-11-15. the top employers in the city are: Government Local government According to the city's most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Fund Financial Statements, the city's various funds had $36.0 million in Revenues, $37.0 million in expenditures, $18.9 million in total assets, $3.5 million in total liabilities, and $7.2 million in investments. City of Texarkana Contact Directory. Retrieved 2010-11-15. The structure of the management and coordination of city services is: Education Public school districts Much of Texarkana, Texas, is under the jurisdiction of the Texarkana Independent School District, but also the Liberty-Eylau Independent and Pleasant Grove Independent School Districts. Colleges and universities Texarkana is also home to Texarkana College, a community college, as well as a new 4-year branch of Texas A&M: Texas A&M University–Texarkana. Religion Texarkana is the headquarters of the theologically conservative American Baptist Association, whose Missionary Baptist churches are most numerous in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Mississippi. State government Though the city is historically Democratic, Texarkana is currently represented by Republicans in both houses of the Texas State Legislature. The state senator is Kevin Eltife from District 1. George Lavender of Texarkana represents Texas House District 1. The Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) operates the Texarkana District Parole Office in Texarkana."Parole Division Region I." Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Retrieved on May 15, 2010. The Texas Sixth Court of Appeals is located downtown in the Bi-State Justice Building."Contact Information." Texas Sixth Court of Appeals. Retrieved on March 10, 2010. Federal government At the Federal level, the two U.S. Senators from Texas are Republicans John Cornyn and Ted Cruz; Texarkana is part of Texas's 4th congressional district, which is currently represented by Republican Ralph M. Hall. The Federal Courthouse (which also holds the city's only post office) is located directly on the Arkansas-Texas state line and is the only federal office building to straddle a state line. Federal Correctional Institution, Texarkana is a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility in unincorporated Bowie County, near Texarkana, Texas."FCI Texarkana Contact Information." Federal Bureau of Prisons. Retrieved on June 2, 2010."Ward Map." City of Texarkana, Texas. Retrieved on July 2, 2010. Transportation Texarkana Regional Airport is located in Texarkana, Arkansas and serves general aviation and American Eagle service to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. station in Texarkana]] Texarkana Union Station is located in Downtown Texarkana along the state line with daily Amtrak service west to Dallas and east to Chicago via Little Rock. Texarkana Urban Transit District provides bus transportation to major areas of town along 9 different routes. Service runs from 5:30 am to 6:20 pm Monday - Saturday. Interstate 30 passes through Texarkana on the north. Loop 151 on the west of the city forms part of the Texarkana Loop, which itself forms a three-quarter loop around the west, south and east of the twin cities with I-30 completing the loop on the north. Interstate 369 shares the west of Loop 151. Texarkana is currently constructing a new interstate corridor, Interstate 49, which will connect it to Shreveport. Notable people * Ryan Mallett, Quarterback in the NFL for the New England Patriots * Michael Wacha, professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals * Drew Stubbs, MLB player for the Cleveland Indians * Lindsey Rayl, actress and singer/songwriter * Aysel Teymurzadeh, singer-performer * Parnelli Jones, race car driver * Miller Barber, golfer * J. B. Bobo, magician * Ben M. Bogard, clergyman, founder of American Baptist Association in Texarkana in 1924 * Willie Buchanon, football player * David Crowder, musician * V. E. Howard, clergyman who founded the International Gospel Hour and was the pastor of the Walnut Street Church of Christ in Texarkana * LaMichael James, football player for the San Francisco 49ers * Brandon Jones, NFL player for the Baltimore Ravens * Scott Joplin, musician and composer (founder of Ragtime) * Joshua Logan, film and stage director * Eddie Mathews, baseball player * Will Middlebrooks, baseball player for the Boston Red Sox * Dustin Moseley, baseball player * Craig Monroe, baseball player * Mac Morgan, opera singer * Ross Perot, businessman and politician * Charles B. Pierce, movie producer * Molly C. Quinn, actress * James Theodore Richmond, writer and conservationist * Bill Rogers, golfer * Michael Jarboe Sheehan, Archbishop of Santa Fe * Marshall Terrill, best-selling author * Jeremiah Trotter, NFL player * Nathan Vasher, NFL player * Frank D. White, governor of Arkansas from 1981 to 1983 * Otis Williams, musician, founding member of The Temptations * Jesse Belvin, singer, pianist and songwriter * Ocielia Gibson, model, first Texas winner of Miss Black USA Pageant * Jeff Keith, lead singer of rock band, Tesla * Dame Marjorie Morris Scardino, Pulitzer Prize winning publisher and CEO of Pearson PLC * Julie Meadows, former pornographic actress * Rod Smith, NFL player, Denver Broncos * Gunnar Stansson, YouTube celebrity, the star of videos such as Unforgivable. In popular culture * Brenda Lee's 1959 song Let's Jump The Broomstick references the city with the lyric 'Goin' to Alabama back from Texarkana, Goin' all around the world'. *Texarkana is referenced as one of the places visited by a the red car in The Brave Little Toaster during the song "Worthless." * Texarkana is the subject and title of a 1991 song by R.E.M.. The track appears on the band's seventh studio album, Out of Time. * The city is also referenced to in the song Cotton Fields by the American folk and blues musician Lead Belly and later recorded by several notable country rock artists including The Highwaymen, Buck Owens, The Beach Boys and Credence Clearwater Revival. * In the novel A Canticle for Liebowitz, centuries after a nuclear war that reduces world civilization to second dark age, Texarkana rises as the capital of a burgeoning empire that expands across the former United States and becomes known as the Atlantic Confederacy. * Jerry Reed's 1977 hit song "East Bound And Down" from the "Smokey And The Bandit" soundtrack refers to the city in the lyric 'The boys are thirsty in Atlanta and there's beer in Texarkana', referring to plot point of the lack of availability of Coors beer east of Texas at that time. *In the movie Zombieland, Woody Harrelson refers to the relationship with his new zombie-killing companion, Jesse Eisenberg, that he figures it will last "all the way to Texarkana". * In the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, The Bandit and The Snowman (Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed) are making a run from Atlanta, GA to Texarkana, TX to get a load of beer. In fact, Texarkana, TX is dry and the alcohol distributor is actually in Texarkana, Arkansas. Photo Gallery File:TX-AR Justice Center in Texarkana IMG 6367.jpg|The Justice Center in Texarkana is shared by both the Arkansas and Texas governments. File:Texarkana Public Library IMG 6394.jpg|Texarkana Public Library File:Saenger Theatre in Texarkana, TX IMG 6407.jpg|Saenger Theatre File:Capital One Bank, Texarkana, IMG 6369.jpg|Capital One Bank, Texarkana File:Korean War Memorial in Texarkana, TX IMG 63890.jpg|Korean War Memorial in Texarkana commemorates those killed in the war from the Four-States Area. File:Beech Street FBC, Texarkana IMG 6382.jpg|Beech Street First Baptist Church; former pastor is Mike Huckabee. File:Beech Street Baptist Church, Texarkana, Ark-Tex (1909).jpg|Beech Street Baptist Church, Texarkana, Ark.-Tex. (postcard, 1909) File:Beech Street Baptist Church, Texarkana, Ark-Tex (1910-side view).jpg|Beech Street Baptist Church, Texarkana, Ark-Tex (postcard, 1910-side view) File:Central Christian Church, Texarkana, TX IMG 6402.jpg|Central Christian Church, a Disciples of Christ congregation, at 4605 North State Line in Texarkana, Texas File:Texarkana Water Tower CIMG6231.JPG|Water Tower in Texarkana References External links * City of Texarkana, Texas portal * Texarkana Chamber of Commerce * Handbook of Texas Online: Texarkana, Texas * Texarkana Business Reviews * Texarkana Gazette * Texarkana Convention & Visitors Bureau Category:Texarkana Category:Cities in Bowie County, Texas Category:Cities in Texas Category:Twin cities Texarkana, Texas Category:Texarkana metropolitan area